Today, we began our walk at 6:58am. It was in the dark, but close to daybreak.
This was my third time walking out of Ponferrada. Everything looked very familiar.
It was a long day, and according to Google Fit I burned more calories than any other day. I honestly thought the two previous days were harder, though. Go figure!
It was quite a slog out of town. Our first stop… I didn’t pay much attention to the name of the place. I felt like the person there was miserable in her work. The service was good, but not friendly.
As always, there were great views along the way. And we went through Cacabelos. This is the place where one of the main characters of my novel THE CAMINO CLUB was introduced to Creepy Jesus of Cacabelos. Clair takes Troy for a late night walk in Cacabelos to show him Creepy Jesus at the church with the albergue.
You can pick up your copy of The Camino Club wherever books are sold.
After Cacabelos, we headed for Villafranca del Bierzo. We took a different route this time. The last two times I made this walk I went through the vineyards. This time, we chose the road… which was shorter. At the end, we still got a taste of the vineyard path. It was nice to be in them, but also nice to shave off a km or two. If you’re doing the Camino for the first time, I suggest you cut right into the vineyards instead of taking the road. The famous house on the hill that has been in countless Instagram shots is much nicer on the vineyard path. We still saw it today, but from a different angle…
There were some gorgeous vistas to spoil us with beauty again today…
The walk into the destination town is always the best feeling! Seeing Villafranca del Bierzo was such a blessing! Our albergue is lovely. We’re staying at Hostel El Campano, which is just a short walk from the main plaza with the restaurants… Plaza Mayor.
We ate at Restaurante El Casino. The menu del Dia has lots of options to choose from. We spent €32. We had Two salads, two mains, two desserts, bottle of wine, one Coke Zero.
Time to crash for the day. Yes, I know it’s only 5:03pm, but it’s been a long day and we are climbing to O Cebriero tomorrow! We need our sleep.
Onward (AND UPWARD!) to O Cebriero tomorrow! Buen Camino, peregrinos/peregrinas!
On we go!
Click here to jump to DAY 6 – Villafranca del Bierzo to O Cebriero!
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While you’re here, I wrote a novel set on the Camino Frances route. You can check it out at Amazon here: THE CAMINO CLUB
KEVIN CRAIG 
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